Category Archives: 2020 Dakotas and Minnesota

Saturday, July 25, 2020 – Savanna Portage State Park, MN to Home Once again, I woke up early (why should the last day of the trip be any different?). As I emerged from the tent it was humid, cloudy, and it looked like rain. Sometimes I hate it when I’m right. I quickly put someContinue reading “Completing the Circle”

Friday, July 24, 2020 – Savanna Portage State Park, MN Our campsite at Savanna Portage was near a lake. We weren’t on the lake, but it was only a few campsites away. I woke up with first light (as usual), so I went down to the lake to watch the sunrise. The campground was onContinue reading “I Found Myself on the Continental Divide”

Thursday, July 23, 2020 – Medora, ND to Savanna Portage State Park, MN The drive across North Dakota seems boring on the surface, but paying attention to the change in scenery made it fascinating. Going west to east first I noticed that the buttes disappeared. Then a few lakes started to appear. The grassland turnedContinue reading “Thoughts Turn Toward Home”

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 – Theodore Roosevelt National Park It was a hot one this day. Ninety-two degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We were touring the South Unit, so there was no long drive to our destination and we were able to start early. We took a 1.5 mile hike to aContinue reading “Petrified Forest”

Tuesday, July 21, 2020 – Theodore Roosevelt National Park I can’t sleep once it is light out. Once I am up and out of the tent there is no going back to sleep if the sun is up, so I make some coffee and read. I was reading The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen onContinue reading “Coulees and Caprocks”

Monday, July 20, 2020 – Custer State Park, SD to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND Time to relocate. After “one-nighters” the first two nights of this trip, it was nice to set up camp and leave it up for a couple of days this time. But, alas, it was time to move on. It tookContinue reading “Center of the Nation”

Sunday, July 19, 2020 – Custer State Park, SD I have a new hike for my favorite hikes list – Sunday Gulch Trail. It is a four-mile loop with 776 feet of elevation change, which would normally take us a while, but it took even longer this day. It was raining when we started outContinue reading “Sunday in the Gulch”

Saturday, July 18, 2020 – Badlands National Park, SD to Custer State Park, SD Sunrise is my favorite time of the day. I love the beauty of the glowing orb rising out of Lake Michigan on my summertime morning runs. The rays piercing through the clouds, the colors on the sky – each day exactlyContinue reading “Sunrise at 5:32”

Friday, July 17, 2020 – Stone State Park, IA to Badlands National Park, SD Our next-door neighbors in the campground were also from Wisconsin – one from Milwaukee and one from Madison. Two guys making their way across the country on motorcycles with camping gear strapped in their saddle bags. Like explorers headed west onContinue reading “Does the Dashboard Really Say 103 degrees?”

Thursday, July 16, 2020 – Milwaukee, WI to Stone State Park, Iowa It was only a three-day work week for me, but there was a full week’s worth of stress. After a couple of long days of getting ready to be gone and a long evening of packing it was time to hit the road.Continue reading “Is That a Refrigerator?”